EXCLUSIVE: Messaging apps alleged coup conspirators used for communication

Mr Victor, a military officer-turned-politician who served as the chairman of the Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State between 2018 and 2021 while the incumbent Minister of the FCT Nyesom Wike was the governor, also stated that he did not take the alleged coup plot seriously but regretted not reporting it to the authorities.

The application has built much of its identity around private communication, with the company saying it does not store users’ communication histories on its servers and that messages and calls are protected with end-to-end encryption.

For some whose names surfaced in the alleged coup investigation, communication was not limited to ordinary telephone calls.